Garter hold



April 12, 1949.

P. z. GORDON GARTER HOLD Filed May 23, 1946 Patented Apr. 12, 1949 UNITEDV STATES PATENT l OFFICE 6- Claims.

This invention relates to hold-down means'for girdles or a means adapted to hold downv or anchor a girdle in place on the wearer especially when stockings are not being worn, although it can' be worn at such times thereby lessening the tendency to. injure the stockings when the girdle buckle' or the like is secured thereto.

This invention includes a Apair of garter-like devices, one for each leg and will be so understood. It will besuilicient to describe in detail only'one of them.

One of the objects of the present invention is tcrprovide` a deviceofthe above character which may be worn at any time with ease and comfort, and form a secure and substantial anchor for the garter tabs of a girdle, thereby eliminating the tendency for the girdle to ride up on the wearer when moving about.

A further object isto provide a device of the abovecharacter which Will be more comfortable than devicesl now in use and which will permit stretching Where necessary and restrict stretch at other points.

sembled and which parts are shaped and assembled with respect to each other to limit the stretch to the desired locations and directions.

A further object is to prevent roll of the material While in use.

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings and in part hereinafter indicated in connection therewith by the following analysis of this invention.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of parts, and in the unique relation of the members and in the relative proportioning and disposition thereof, all as more completely outlined herein.

To enable others skilled in the art fully to comprehend the underlying features of this invention, that they may embody the same by the modifications in structure and relation contemplated Iby the invention, drawings depicting the preferred embodiments of the invention form a part of this disclosure, and in such drawings like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views in which- Fig. l is a general vertical View of the device in use;

Figs. 2 and 3 are detail Views; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional View, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

The present device really comprises a pair of 2 garter-like articles, each of which is shown as comprising. four main parts, the pair being suitable for use with the garment having two garter fastened supports on each side substantially divametrically opposite each other indicated at 5 and' 6', although: i-t isf of course to be understood that an additional tab may be applied as and where necessary if anv additional girdle-attached garter tab is used.. These trapezoidal garter securing yparts 5 and -6 are located bet-Ween two main portions 'l and 8. rIhe four parts together, when assembled, constituting a complete leg encircling garter-like device. adapted to iit :above the knee of each legy and. encircle same like` a garter. The parts 5 and 6 are made of elastic fabric of vone-#way stretch material; that is, aV

vertical stretchl only with practically no lateral stretch whatever. The parts 'I and. on. the contrary, are made of a porous elastic webbingand. eachA has: a stretch in two ways at right angles to each other, to conform tothe shape and size of the leg.y above the knee and should have a tension tol produce the desired rm'ness and prevent.r relative' movement with respect to the: leg either vertically or' circumferentially.

It willbe noted that both the parts 5 and 6 are: provided with button. holes or the like 9 through which the fastening device or button on the garter may be passed. It will be noted particularly that these button holes are positioned in the direction of their length; that is, being vertical slits which would prevent the button coming out of the button hole as would probably occur if they were made horizontally.

In order to prevent rolling or curling of the device while being worn, at one or more places about the inner surface are positioned pockets II) at both the top and bottom edge adapted to receive the ends of a stiflening member I I. This overlies a connecting piece of relatively heavy fabric I2 adapted to prevent at that particular point any stretching of the material at the point of attachment which would tend to separate the pockets I0 and the temporary loss of the stiftening member I I.

The manner of use and operation of the present device is doubtess well known to those familiar with the subject. It may be stated, however, that from the above it will be seen that the present device is free from many objections heretofore encountered. The stretch in the various parts is always located to the amount and where most needed and in the direction and amount to accomplish the desired purpose. Almost all of the strain is applied to the device while being worn in a vertical direction; however, the lateral stretch in the parts 1 and 8 is such as to hold the device firmly and snugly whether worn with or without stockings. The parts 5 and 6 being free in themselves from the lateral stretch, provide substantial bases to attach those portions having the lateral stretch. These latter portions, however, being made of porous elastic web prevent any abnormal binding on the leg and render the garment cool and comfortable.

While it will be apparent that the illustrated embodiments of this invention herein disclosed are Well calculated adequately to fulfill the objects and advantages primarily stated, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible to variation, modifications and changes within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the character herein described comprising a plurality of pieces of elastic material sewed together to form a leg-encircling band, alternate pieces of which are of one-way vertical stretch material, and the other alternate pieces being of two--way stretch material, the two-Way stretch pieces being relatively long along the legencircling dimension of the band as compared to the one-way stretch pieces, whereby the total length of two-way stretch material is several times the total length of one-way stretch material.

2. A device of the character herein described comprising a plurality of pieces of elastic material sewed together to form a leg-encircling band, alternate pieces of which are of one-Way vertical stretch material, and the other alternate pieces being oi two-way stretch material, the one-way stretch material being provided with garter tab attaching means, the two-way stretch pieces being relatively long along the leg-encircling dimension of the band as compared to the one- Way stretch pieces, whereby the total length of two-way stretch material is several times the total length of one-way stretch material.

3. A device of the character herein described comprising a plurality of pieces of elastic material sewed together to form a leg-encircling band, alternate pieces of which are of one-Way vertical stretch material, and the other alternate pieces being of two-way stretch material, the two-Way stretch pieces being relatively long along the leg-encircling dimension of the band as compared to the one-way stretch pieces, whereby the total length of two-way stretch material is several times the total length of oneway stretch material, the oneeway stretch material being provided with garter tab attaching means, and the two-Way stretch material being provided with roll-preventing means. n

4. A device as set forth in claim 3, in which the roll-preventing means consist of removable stays, and pockets attached to the top and bottom of the leg-encircling member, the ends of the stays being received in said pockets.

5. An anchoring device for a girdle and the like comprising a band composed of a plurality of pieces of thin iiexible porous material, alternate pieces of said band being stretchable in a Vertical direction only, the intermediate alternate parts being stretchable both horizontally and vertically, and said intermediate alternate parts being relatively longer taken in a direction around the band than the pieces which are stretchable only in a vertical direction, whereby the total length of material stretchable both horizontally and vertically is substantially greater than the total length of material which is stretchable only vertically.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 in which the vertical stretch parts are provided with Vertically positioned button holes. l

PAULINE Z. GORDON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are oi record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 29, 1934 

